Interserve and sustainable procurement

Monday, September 3rd, 2012

Interserve achieves gold in world’s first standard for sustainable procurement.

Interserve, the international support services and construction group, has been successfully assessed by Brian Farrington Ltd, using proprietary metrics of evaluation against BS 8903:2010, the world’s first standard for sustainable procurement.

The Support Services procurement team was awarded the BFL Gold Standard with an overall classification described as “approaching cutting edge”. The standard builds upon the fundamentals of the company’s previous level five status in the government’s Standard Flexible Framework and reinforces Interserve’s commitment to sustainable practices.

Interserve and sustainable procurement:

BS 8903:2010 provides guidance to organisations on adopting and embedding sustainable procurement principles and practices, and covers all stages of the procurement process including supplier audits, carbon measurement and life cycle assessment.

Dr Brian Farrington, a leading authority and published author on Purchasing Supply Chain & Sustainable Procurement, led the independent review and commented, “The awareness and continuous improvement demonstrated within Interserve to promote best practice in every aspect of its procurement activity was impressive. From recruitment and training through to process, supplier engagement and results measurement, it was clear that there was an excellent base of knowledge and skills that will continue to be applied on a wider scale.”

The evaluation supports sustainable activities already incorporated within Interserve’s supply chain strategy. Critical areas such as supporting local supply chains, carbon measurement and energy conservation programmes are being set challenging targets over the coming years to ensure sustainable outcomes for the environment, the economy and society.

Guy Bruce, Managing Director – Supply and Operations from Interserve said: “Sustainable procurement is not just a function centred around processing orders and purchasing goods, nor is it simply a box-ticking exercise. At Interserve procurement is embedded in the company’s strategic behaviour and achieving BS8903:2010 is one way that the company can demonstrate its commitment to sustainable practices.

“We are always striving to be better and to constantly improve our standards. We will be using this accreditation as a tool to benefit and enhance performance on an ongoing basis.”

To ensure ever closer alignment of procurement with your corporate strategy and operations and for details of the Brian Farrington Ltd proprietry approach to BS8903 evaluation please contact Stephen Ashcroft on 01744 20698